Sunday, October 25, 2015

This
week it's a simple photo. These homes and apartments are overlooking
the beach and the Pacific Ocean at Manhattan Beach, California. It's
January, so the sun sets around 5:30 PM. It's about 4:00 PM when I
took this photo. I've seen Pacific sunsets and I can guarantee, they
are breathtaking. But, then again, so are all the other ones I've
seen.

I
can only imagine what it costs to live in these homes on the beach,
but I'm sure everyone who lives here believes whatever it costs is
worth it. My friend, Dan has a fantastic view of the Pacific from his
home perched high above the Pacific near Santa Barbara, California. I
saw a sunset at his home and it was glorious. But, even back east,
the sunsets are glorious. My friend Barbara lives on the top floor of
an eight story condo on the beach in Sarasota, Florida overlooking
one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and the Gulf of
Mexico. Her view is nothing short of awesomely amazing.

We
are blessed to live on this beautiful planet with all that nature and
God laid out before us. Some people are able to afford to live in
places like these. But, that doesn't mean we all can't enjoy these
scenic and glorious sunsets, sunrises and all of nature's other
bounties. Don't let life slip by and not do everything to you can to
explore these wonders of God and nature. That's one regret I won't
have and I hope you won't either.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Of
course, this isn't really a boat, it's a ship. I learned a simple
differentiation between a boat and a ship during my younger days when
I did some boating with friends. It made it very clear. You can put a
boat on a ship, but you can't put a ship on a boat. Works for me.

At
any rate, this photo was taken when I took a cruise from New Orleans
to Cozumel and back on a Carnival Cruise Line ship, the Holiday.
Actually, the ship in the photo is the Fascination. If you look
carefully, you'll see another ship right behind it. That was our
ship, the Holiday.

The
lovely lady who posed so nicely for this shot is my friend, Carol.
She and her husband, Brian, are long time, good friends from New
Zealand. They were coming to the U.S. and told me to meet them in New
Orleans to join them on this cruise in September of 2003. Having
never been on a cruise before, at least not on an ocean going ship, I
figured – another adventure and something to cross off my life
list.

So,
here we are, two Kiwi's from down under, one Yank, originally from
northern New Jersey, meeting in New Orleans and ending up in
Cozumel, Mexico. I wasn't particularly enamored by cruising on a ship
that was like a small city. For my liking, there were too many
people. A lot of people love these cruises. Personally, I'd like to
sail on a much smaller ship with perhaps not more than 50 to 100
people on board. I'm sure we wouldn't have all the amenities, but
that's okay since I really didn't use most of the amenities on this
ship.

I
have to admit that I really enjoyed the snorkeling I did that day off
the coast of Cozumel and the visit to the ancient Mayan ruins at
Tulum. Was it a great experience? Absolutely! And, a good time was
had by all.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

This
unassuming building with the antique Chrysler parked out front and
the ExecutiveBooks.Com sign is not what one would assume from the
outside. It was, in fact, the personal library of my dear, long-time
friend, the late Charlie “Tremendous” Jones. I write this in the
past tense because Charlie died October 16, 2008. I took these photos
on my next to the last visit I had with my friend about two months
before he passed away.

As
you can see from the other interior photos, this building held a
treasure in old and antique books and other memorabilia. There is
nothing new in this room. There are no new or current books. There
are no new or current recordings. There are no new or current
paintings, photos or graphic works. Even the fliers, brochures and
booklets on the tables are vintage or antique.

Yes!
That is a real, working player piano with a large selection of piano
rolls. You can see one threaded in the window on the piano. Over near
the windows there is a wax cylinder player. I believe it was an
Edison unit. There was a large selection of historic wax cylinders
including some important speeches. There was also an old Victrola
from the Victor Talking Machine Company with a collection of historic
78 rpm phonograph records.

There
was an aura about this room. Over the years I knew Charlie, I had
been in the library on several occasions. The building stood adjacent
to the guest house Charlie maintained on his small farm in
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. For many years during some of the
tougher times and the start-up days of his publishing business and
his international speaking career, this guest house was his
headquarters. The building where the library was housed was the
warehouse. Charlie had his personal, private office in the guest
house where it remained until his death. Yes! There was a sizable
library of books there, too. Some of those were more contemporary.
Charlie and I spent many hours in conversation in that comfortable
office.

As
you look around the library you'll see all kinds of books. Charlie
loved books, all books. There were many first editions. He would be
speaking to a huge audience and he'd hold up a book and kiss it to
get his point across. I don't recall a lot about Charlie's childhood
or education. I know he was originally from Alabama. I don't recall
if he attended college. He became an insurance salesman for one of
the largest U.S. insurance companies at age 22. By age 23 he was
winning major sales awards. By 30 he was one of the most successful
insurance sales people in the U.S.

This
room is the essence of Charlie Jones' love of books, learning and
sharing the books and the knowledge gained from them. During his
lifetime he published countless books for, at the time, lesser known
or unknown authors, several of his own books, supplied millions of
books to individuals and businesses and spoke to over 5,000 audiences
around the world. To say I cherish these photos and the photos I have
with Charlie, is an understatement.

This
building still exists. It's now owned, along with the guest house, by
one of Charlie's daughters and her husband. I haven't been in either
building since the ownership changed. I do know the library, and
everything it represented to Charlie, to me and the countless others
who visited it, is gone. Charlie had made arrangements to donate all
of its contents prior to his death. So, being in that room in the
past and now looking at these photos is definitely a “blast from
the past” for me. However, while the library is gone, it will never
be forgotten, nor will my friend, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

That's
all it takes to change the course of your life. Just one Instant in
time. In this particular instant, actually, a couple nights before I
took this photo, I was driving this car. I finally found this
particular car and bought it less than a year before in September of
2010. I had already acquired my South Dakota license plates and left
as soon as I put them on the car for Rapid City, South Dakota to
complete my official residence change and obtain my South Dakota
drivers license. This car was destined to be the “toad” (RV slang
for the car towed behind a motor home) for the motor home I was
shopping for. And, in one instant all my plans changed.

Yes,
you're looking at a totaled 2002 Ford Focus that had the low mileage,
the exact door, seating and cargo configuration, the five-speed
manual transmission, the engine and other features I specifically
wanted. It even had a satellite radio receiver installed. It took me
two months to find this particular car. I downsized from my 1996
Cadillac Seville STS, one of my favorite cars of all time. I had
256,000 miles on the old Caddy. I bought it with 104,000 miles on the
odometer. The Focus was about 8 years old when I bought it and only
had a few thousand miles over 50,000 on the odometer. Then . . .

a kamikaze deer shot out of the darkness of the night and in that
instant everything

about my future plans changed. No! I wasn't hurt,
just a little stunned. I didn't even make contact with the airbag
when it deployed. And, therein, lies the crux of the matter. There
was no one in the passenger seat, but both airbags deployed as you
can see in this photo.When the insurance adjuster went over the car,
he had to total the car. The actual damage to the front of the car,
headlight, grill and windshield were all repairable at nominal
expense. It was those two airbags that moved the car into the totaled
category. They brought the cost of repairs well over the threshold
that made sense for the insurance company.

Obviously,
one doesn't plan for an accident, therefore they always happen at an
inopportune time. This was no exception. The insurance company had me
in a rental car virtually immediately. So, I had wheels. However, due
to my schedule and upcoming events, I had absolutely no time to go
shopping for a replacement for this vehicle. It took me two months to
find this Ford Focus, so I fully expected it to take that much time
or possibly longer to find another car matching my precise
requirements as the “toad” I had planned this car to be.

Ultimately,
by the middle or end of September I had changed my plans. I decided
to alter my plans for a motor home and a toad. I decided to find
either a Class B or Class B+ van based motor home or a high-top
conversion van I could modify myself to use as both a tiny house on
wheels and a daily driving vehicle. I looked at a couple vehicles,
but ultimately decided on the self modified, high-top conversion van,
now known as My McVansion.

The
positive outcome is the change in plans saved me from paying
insurance on two vehicles, double maintenance, upkeep, operating
expense, repairs, depreciation and the cost to modify the “toad”
vehicle for towing. The frustration is that I had sold a beautiful
high-top conversion van with a slightly larger engine, nicer interior
and even lower mileage only about 18 months earlier.

Such
is life! Everything can change in an instant. It certainly did for
that kamikaze deer. It's “lights” went out permanently in that
instant. Of course, I'm very thankful I didn't lose control and roll
the car or hit a tree or worse. Ultimately, perhaps, there was a
message from the universe in that event. Although, I just think it
was a standard dumb deer doing what dumb deer do and I just happened
to be in the wrong place at the wrong time that night.